Never Quite Discussed
by twostrandsofmelody
Summary: Inspired by reviews to my Mis story "Not For Me" and some of 'Parnasse's plot with 'Ponine I wrote there. Just a character study on Montparnasse's emotions towards Eponine.


_you're the closest thing I know to love so  
>let me in<br>the moon is glowing white  
>and time's a-wasting<br>and don't you want to know  
>what happens when<br>we start at the start  
>before it becomes that thing<br>that broke my heart in two_

_~o~_

Eponine Thenardier. That was the girl for Montparnasse. Except for the excruciatingly obvious fact that she drove him utterly mad. They'd "been" together for years but their relationship was never any more than casual. He was head over heels for her and she was… head over heels for some rich snob that didn't bother to give her the time of day. But that was Eponine, she'd rather pine for someone who didn't see her as anything other than his shadow over having a halfway decent man she'd known her whole life.

It had started out as a request from her father when they were much younger. Monsieur Thenardier was interested in a new enterprise to make money. His young daughter could get him a pretty penny to pay for his debts. For her maidenhood, he'd only had to pay a few sous. Thenardier didn't expect that his bedraggled and awkward daughter would be worth much, yet.

He figured Eponine had always regarded him as a brother and that crossed some conscious line in her mind. He had crossed a line, but there was nothing he could do. His boss had ordered him and his boss happened to be her father. 'Parnasse had tried to be as kind as possible with her, but he himself was green to romantic matters.

He would be a fool to say that he loved Eponine. But he did. He loved her in a way that would normally be accepted as _love_. He hated her. He would sooner gouge out his own eyes to have to spend the rest of his life with her and her brash manners and rude way of speaking, but that was _his_ Eponine.

But there she was being a puppy to a rich aristocrat and only spending time with him when he paid for her pleasures. Every last penny he got that wasn't necessary to live on, was used to spend time with her. She never seemed to notice that on occasion he would pay for an evening with her and there would be no sex involved with it, and if she noticed she'd never breathe a word of it. As much as he hated her he did, secretly, enjoy spending time with her. Occasionally he would catch himself wanting to slip his hand into hers as they lurked in the shadows of Paris, working for her father to steal from some rich fool.

Ha! If Montparnasse did that she'd have her palm against his cheek in no time. And not to cup his face and kiss him, no, to slap him flat across his cheek. She was frigid and cold with him, but at the same time she showed him a sort of care. How many times had she requested to work with him on a scheme and not with one of the other thieves? Once he'd been teamed with Babet and she had thrown an absolute fit in front of everything because she wanted to work with Montparnasse.

Deep down he knew she secretly enjoyed her time with him too. But that's one of those little things left unsaid.

Was he the man on her mind when she would curl close to him in his bed? Or did she imagine her precious richboy's chest beneath her nimble fingers as she ran a finger across his skin? If she did… it wouldn't matter because neither would ask the other.

He'd catch her by surprise with a kiss and she wouldn't catch herself in time. She would kiss him back with a surprising intensity before she would jerk back and whack him across the face. She was a fierce force to be reckoned with.

But he would rather be on her bad side then no side at all.

"Eponine. _Eponine_." Montparnasse taunted, appearing beside her at the bar. "How is my favourite little whore?"

Eponine snorted and rolled her eyes, "As well as a whore can be. How's my least favorite bastard?"

"Happier now."

"Oh?" Eponine feigned interest. "Rob someone blind?"

"Nope."

"Spit it out."

Montparnasse grinned cheekily, wrapping an arm around her waist. "I get to see you."

Eponine sighed and pushed his arm off of her, "I'm happier when you're gone. You're like a black cloud. You bring rain."

"You bring the rainbow after the rain."

"Romantic."

"I try." Montparnasse retorted proudly, turning so his back was to the bar and he could stare at her better.

"You do not." Eponine snapped, glaring at him scathingly. She hated him.

"You haven't given me a chance."

"Why would I give you chance, you're an arse?"

"But.. I.." He could never say that word. He'd nearly said those three words. "I do try."

"I have other things to do tonight, 'Parnasse."

"But, 'Ponine." He caught her arm as she tried to turn away. "I never meant to hurt you then. I had to do it."

"No one has to do anything." Eponine snarled, shoving his hand off of her arm.

"It was me or Brujon." 'Parnasse explained, knowing that the image of the large, ugly old man possibly being her first man was playing in her mind. "Be thankful your father asked a pup like me to spare you."

"You spared me alright." The sarcasm dripped off of her words. "If you had wanted to spare me you would have married me instead of screwing me for a few coins for the past six years."

"Eponine." Montparnasse started, as Eponine backed away from him. "It's not safe out there tonight."

Eponine shook her head, fighting back tears. "I'd rather be dead than be with you 'Parnasse."

"Don't say that." 'Parnasse slammed his fist to the bar, watching as she darted out of the Inn. She was a fool to run out into the streets with the fighting that was brewing out there.

He'd never seen her in those clothes before either. They looked like… No. Why would she don his clothes for on a night like this? Who in their right mind would masquerade as a boy when it was the students that were causing trouble? No doubt to impress her pompous student friend.

_I would rather be dead than be with you._

Her final words echoed in his mind as he scoured the shambles of the barricade. Her once vicious and vibrant body lay serenely across a broken table. _His_ shirt was damp with her blood, the bullet had pierced through and killed her. He trembled in an agony worse than any bullet as he lifted her lifeless body into his arms.

_I would rather be dead than be with you_.

"I love you." He cried out as he buried his face into her dark hair, clinging to her body. He had been spared in this war, but he had died. Eponine had died. Eponine had died and her last words to him were words that would haunt him until he would finally join her in the afterlife.

He wouldn't be able to live without her venomous humor, her harsh laughter, her crooked smile, her.

**A/N:**

**I had no intention to make this so depressing. This is purely because of Kaen's little Monty. Whom I love. But apologize to as well for this pitiful story. **

**Lyrics are from "Never Quite Discussed" By Terra Naomi – listen to it. It fits these two. So does "Nobody Sees" By Powederfinger. Listen to them both.**

**P.S. Montparnasse is Chase Crawford in my mind and 'Ponine is Sam Barks. **


End file.
